Soulmates
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: Re-do of 3x03. Established Swan Queen. What if Regina's soulmate is no longer the man with the lion tattoo?


_Soulmates _

_One-shot _

_Words - 3385_

_Summary – Re-do of 3x03. Established Swan Queen. What if Regina's soulmate is no longer the man with the lion tattoo?_

_I don't own Once or its characters. Apologies for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy :)_

Tink frowns as she watches her unconscious captive. She remembers the young queen she had tried to help all those years ago, the one who cost her her wings and her magic. All she had wanted was to be a good fairy, to bring light into a life of darkness and yet Regina just wouldn't let her. She has to know why. Why Regina lied. Why she couldn't just go into that inn.

The brunette moans slowly stirring into consciousness. "Ah good you're up" Tink says keeping her hands clasped together.

Regina sits up with slow cautious movements as she attempts to clear the fog from her brain. "What do you want?" she asks. She needs to get away, to get back to Emma so they can save her son. She wonders if Emma has discovered Tink's empty house yet, if anyone knows she's missing, if Emma is looking for her yet. She has no doubts that Emma will come to save her, she promised she always would.

"You ruined my life" Tink says gritting out the words with bitter fury as Regina frowns in a puzzled manner. She looks the fairy up and down before coming to a realisation, "Your wings, they're"

"Gone" Tink finishes for her.

"You have no magic" Regina says as she stands slowly feeling clarity returning to her, "But I do" she adds as she snaps the bindings keeping her trapped. As soon as she's up on her feet Tink flies over holding an arrow close to Regina's throat. She watches as the woman visibly gulps, "Is that?"

"Dreamshade" she replies knowing Regina is aware of what it does. She doubts Hook would have let them get this far without warning them of this particular poison.

"What happened to you?" Regina asks as she looks at the hate and anger in the fairy's eyes.

"You. You happened to me" she spits out bitterly.

"Me?" the brunette asks in confusion. She doesn't understand how the loss of Tink's wings could be her fault. All she did was reject her help, push her away before she inevitably got hurt as anyone too close to her did.

"Why couldn't you just go in to that bar? Why did you lie? She took my wings! I stole for you. I tried to help you and I lost everything!"

"And so what now you're going to kill me?" Regina challenges, "Not like this" she knows the fairy doesn't have it in her, that there is still hope for Tink. She raises her hand hovering it over her chest before pulling out her own damaged heart and placing it in Tink's hands.

"Go on then. Crush it"

Tink merely stares at the small dark organ noticing the two bright red spots on the heart. Regina raises Tink's hand bringing the heart up to the fairy's face, "If you do this will be the price. I chose hate over love, vengeance over happiness and this is the result. A small heart. A dark heart"

Tink continues to look at the beating heart in her hands and listens to the woman's warning. She gives it a tiny squeeze looking on in horror as Regina moans and flinches in pain. "Why didn't you go in? Why did you lie?"

"I was afraid!" Regina yells frustrated.

"Why? You could have been free of all your anger!" Tink shouts back.

"And then what would I have been? That anger was all I had. Without it I was nothing"

"You would have been happy"

"I'd have been weak"

"You could have saved us both"

"No I couldn't have!" Regina is so sick of this, of being blamed for Tink's fate when she couldn't even rescue her own, "I was eighteen, I had just lost the man I loved. I couldn't even save myself so how could I have saved you?!"

"You could have just met him"

"No I couldn't. I was scared. I let that fear guide me and look what happened" she says pointing to her heart. "Don't let yourself fall into darkness. Help me find my son"

Tink blinks as she sees one of the red spots flare up and glow brighter, "Your son, Henry? You love him?"

Regina grins, tears coming into her eyes, even without her heart she loves her son more than anything, "He's the only thing I did right. I wasn't the best mother in the world but I tried. I love him."

Tink nods still curious about the other light in the woman's heart before she pushes it back into Regina's chest. The other woman gasps as she readjusts letting the lights in her heart, Henry and Emma, soothe her fears and continue their battle against the darkness that remains. She smiles hopefully, "Does that mean you'll help us?"

The fairy shakes her head solemnly, "It's too late. He's been with Pan too long."

"Not Henry. He believes. He always believes" Regina says confidently before frowning, "You still won't help us?"

"No" she has her reasons. Even if there were some hope for Henry, if she helped them then Pan would kill her. "Come on, I'll take you back to the rest of them" she says turning. She doesn't even wait to see if Regina follows her.

* * *

They trudge through the forest in silence. Regina, thinking of her son and how he is doing. _Have faith Henry, we're coming. _Henry always has faith, he believes when no-one else does and right now she believes in him, in his ability to resist Pan and trust that his family is here to save him. Her thoughts drift to Emma, to her white knight. She needs to see her, to feel Emma's arms wrapped around her to remind her that she is safe. She can feel the leftover exhaustion from the poppies Tink drugged her with weighing down her limbs. She won't succumb to it, not on this island and not without Emma. They both need each other to sleep here, Emma because she needs to know she isn't alone and Regina because Emma's presence keeps the nightmares away.

She frowns as she thinks of the man Tink's fairy dust led them to all those years ago. She doesn't regret not going in. It was one of the few choices she was allowed in her life back then and she chose herself, she wasn't ready for new love. She knew that Leopold would surely have killed them both, even a generous King could not have let such a betrayal pass by unpunished. She didn't want to be the reason for anyone else's misery, a fact she finds bitterly ironic now given how much misery she caused. Maybe meeting that man could have stopped her descent into darkness but she doesn't regret her decision. Had she met him then there would have been no curse, no Henry and no Emma, that all means no happy ending or love.

Tink walks ahead of her as she thinks of Regina's heart. The two light spots bother her. One for Henry makes sense, he is her son, the one who saved her heart and filled the emptiness there. It's the other that confuses her, it's a light that can only be caused by true love, by meeting your soulmate but Regina never went into that inn. _Could the dust have been wrong? _

She's never known of fairy dust failing. Maybe she found him later? Anger boils in her as she thinks of that option. If Regina is with her soulmate why couldn't she just have been brave enough then and saved her from Neverland?

She steps out into a clearing to come face to face with a set of swords and a group of angry people including Hook. She spots a furious and upset looking blonde who she recognises as the saviour, Henry's other mother. "Where's Regina?!" she asks in a panicked and angry voice.

"Who are you?" Tink asks wondering why this woman cares so much.

"A pissed off mother" Emma answers. She wants to be finding their son. She needs Regina to do that. Hell she needs Regina regardless. _I never should have left her there_.

"Em. It's alright. I'm alright" Regina says as she steps through and Emma drops her sword in relief. Tink's eyebrows raise at the nickname but it doesn't seem to startle anyone else. She watches on confused as Regina walks over to Emma and the blonde pulls her in for a tight hug.

"Are you okay?" Emma whispers.

"I'm fine. Just tired" Regina replies relaxing into Emma's hold. She already feels better just by being near Emma.

"We're not far from camp" Emma says keeping Regina as close to her as possible. She eyes Tink warily. "Can we trust her?" she asks.

Regina nods, "She won't harm us but she won't help us either" she says guiltily knowing that were it not for her, the fairy probably would lend them her assistance.

"Why not?" Snow asks.

"Say I do help you, what happens when you go back to Storybrooke? Pan will find me and kill me" Tink replies dejectedly. She wants to help but she's not certain she can. Even if she could unlike them she has no home to go back to when this is over.

Snow watches her recognising the expression, "You can come home with us"

"What? Why would you offer me that?" she asks warily.

"I believe in you" Snow replies. She still believes in the good in others. The way she sees it is that Tink could easily have killed Regina but she didn't. That to Snow means there is good in the fairy, she needs someone to believe in it. She's seen the power of belief in her daughter and grandson with their faith in Regina. She's seen how their belief, and love, have brought light and hope to the former queen. They have reaffirmed her trust in the power of belief and hope.

A small smile appears on Tink's face, it's been a long time since anyone has believed in her. She ignores the part of her brain filled with self-doubt and fear and says, "I'll help you."

* * *

At the campsite Tink watches as Emma and Regina curl up together and rest. She notices how the brunette wraps herself around Emma and how Emma does the same, the pair of them fitting together seamlessly. She watches as they wake and talk, how Emma keeps an arm around the queen kissing her gently before handing her some water.

Tink needs to talk to Regina. This whole things makes no sense to her. She and Emma are obviously together and in love, the light in Regina's heart proved that but what about the dust? If Regina's soulmate is out there then being with Emma will only ruin things for all three of them and whoever Emma's soulmate may be. Tink frowns resolving to talk to Regina, to find out if she ever went back, to warn her about the risk she pays to Emma's happiness.

She waits until Emma goes to talk to her mother and sits down next to Regina who is playing with a ring.

"Did you ever go back to find him? The man with the lion tattoo?" she asks.

Regina sighs, "No"

"So selfish" Tink says angrily thinking of her own pain.

"It's many things but I don't see how it's selfish" Regina retorts.

"You didn't just ruin your life but you ruined his. You're also ruining Emma's"

At that Regina turns with a hurt and angry expression, "What?"

"You have a soulmate Regina and you didn't go to him. You denied both of you, your true happy ending. You are not Emma's soulmate and if you stay with her you deny her her chance of one"

"We are each other's happy ending" Regina says in a small voice. She loves Emma, she can't bear the thought of hurting her. Their love after all stopped that trigger, it brought light into her life. Emma often tells her they are stronger and happier together so how could she be the reason for Emma's pain? Tink's words raise up her doubts and she panics. What if Tink is right? What if they aren't meant for each other? What if Emma's happy ending is elsewhere? She knows already that her happiness is with Emma, that there is no other but what if she's stopping Emma from being happy? A tear rolls down her cheek as she thinks of this.

"The dust Regina. It never fails" Tink says confidently and Regina runs off into the woods. She knows that dust worked. If she can get that dust to work again, to prove they aren't soulmates and get them both their true happy endings then maybe she can get her wings back. She reaches for the string around her neck pulling out a vial of fairy dust. It glows green in her hands as she thinks of that hope for her wings. All she has to do is find Regina and Emma's soulmates.

* * *

"Hey!" Emma calls out as she chases after Regina. She wonders what on earth Tink said to her, whatever it was she doesn't want Regina running off into this forest alone and possibly getting hurt. She catches up to her finding her crying on a log. She kneels down in front of her taking Regina's hands, "Hey" she says in a softer voice, "What's wrong?"

Regina sniffs pulling her hands out of Emma's, "We're not going to work out" she sobs and Emma stiffens, "What?"

"W-we can't be together" Regina stutters out hesitantly, her heart breaking with each word.

Tears begin to dribble down Emma's face as she looks up at the brunette in disbelief. _Where the hell is this coming from? Things were going great. _"What are you talking about?" she asks her voice cracking with the threat of crying.

"You're not my soulmate"

"Says who?"

Regina sniffs again before she begins the story, "When I was first married Tink came to see me. She told me she could help me find happiness. She used fairy dust to find my soulmate. He was a man with a lion tattoo. I didn't go in. I couldn't Emma. I was afraid and I just lost Daniel and it just felt like someone else telling me this was what I had to do so I chose not to go in. But he was my soulmate Emma and Tink says this means I can't be yours which means I'm stopping you from having a happy ending. I ruined his life, I ruined mine and now I'm ruining yours"

Emma listens to the story with a deep frown. The whole story angers her, "Tink said this"

"Yes. It's the reason she lost her wings because she stole dust to prove herself to the Blue Fairy, to prove she could be a good fairy"

"So essentially she pushed you to this guy so she could be a good fairy? Regina you didn't ruin his life and you're not ruining mine. For all we know this guy went and got his own happy ending without you"

"Emma I'm not your soulmate" Regina cries.

Emma huffs. There's only one way to fix this, "Wait here!" she shouts.

"What? Emma where are you going?"

"I'm going to prove to you that I am your soulmate"

* * *

"Hey Tink!" Emma yells as she comes back to the camp slamming the fairy up against a tree, angry tears still falling down her cheeks.

"Emma!" Snow shouts in shock, "What are you doing?"

"You told Regina she was ruining my life!"

"She is!" Tink shouts back, "She already has a soulmate Emma. She can't be yours"

Emma glares at her, "Who are you to tell her that? Did you even think about what you did to her?"

"What I did to her?" Tink asks angrily.

"Yeah. She was eighteen. She had just lost Daniel. All she wanted was freedom and options and instead of giving her that you tried to force her to do what you wanted, you pushed her towards some guy she never met. And now because she made a choice for herself you're calling her selfish? If you were a good fairy you would never have tried to push towards him, you would have tried to help her!"

"I was trying to help her! She needed happiness and love"

"But she wasn't ready Tink. She couldn't make that choice" Snow says in a sad voice, "Her mother and my father meant that she couldn't"

Tink frowns. All she's ever thought of was how Regina betrayed her, how the queen's choice cost her. She didn't think about a scared eighteen year old who didn't want to lose anyone else. "It doesn't matter. He was still her soulmate"

Emma wipes away her own tears before relaxing her grip on the fairy, "What if you're wrong?"

"What? The dust never fails"

"Maybe it didn't but maybe things change. She chose not to go to him and she changed her fate" Emma says, "When she did that maybe they got new happy endings? Is that possible?" she can't believe that there is no happy ending for Regina. There has to be one.

Tink chews her lip in thought. It could be possible. Fate does after all work in funny ways and if Regina chose not to take that road another one was opened up to her. If so, then she's caused all this upset for nothing more than petty vengeance. She frowns before looking up to Emma, "It could be possible"

Emma smiles, "You want to be a good fairy?"

Tink nods, "More than anything"

"Then prove it. I believe in you. I believe in your dust. So does Regina. So much so that she was willing to break her own heart, to sacrifice us, because you told her we weren't soulmates. Find my soulmate Tink"

The fairy nods listening to the impassioned plea from the blonde woman. She clearly does love Regina and if Regina did indeed change her fate that night at the inn then it is possible her soulmate has changed. She is after all a very different person than she was all those years ago. Her heart is certainly different and so its perfect partner may very well have changed in sync. She pulls out her fairy dust again. She wants more than anything to be a good fairy. _You can do this Tink. You need to show them their happy endings_. She smiles when the dust glows green and blows it at Emma who coughs as the dust surrounds her before green sparkly smoke begins to waft off in the direction of the woods.

"Now what?" Emma asks with a confused frown.

"Follow the dust. If you find someone with a gold glow around them then they are your soulmate" Tink explains.

Emma leads the group through the woods following the path of the dust. She smiles as she walk a familiar path to where Regina is still sitting except this time there is a warm gold glow around her.

Tink gasps as she steps next to Emma, "That's remarkable. She really did change her fate"

Regina looks up to them in confusion, tear tracks still evident and flowing down reddened cheeks, "What are you doing here Emma?"

"Tink tell her" Emma says happily.

"You changed your fate"

"What?"

"When you didn't go into that inn you changed your destiny. Your heart was meant for another, a heart you chose, I used the dust on Emma"

"And?" Regina asks daring to let herself hope.

Emma grins walking over to her and placing a warm soft kiss on the lips of the woman she loves, "It lead me to you"

"It did?" Regina asks looking to the fairy for confirmation.

Tink nods, "It would seem in this case the heart wants what it wants. Regina I owe you an apology, she is your happy ending as you are hers. Don't let fear stop you this time"

Regina smiles looking into Emma's bright blue eyes, "Never again" she says before kissing her soulmate.

Tink watches them with a small smile as the dust fades away. This time around she feels like a good fairy.

_Always happy to hear what you think, hope you liked and thank you for reading :)_


End file.
